


Skater Dark Sides AU

by naminethewitch



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, I need to get these ideas out somehow, M/M, Mostly Fluff, Skater Sides, all the sides are gonna show up eventually, bullet fic, focus is on Janus Remus and Virgil though, human!AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:54:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29901369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naminethewitch/pseuds/naminethewitch
Summary: Remus lives in the moment and doesn't want to finish school. When his parents tell him to move out if he's so sure of himself, he does just that and spends his night's at friends' houses or sleeps outside. Once summer ends? Who knows? Remus doesn't and he chooses not to think about it for now. He can skate and that's all he wants right now.Janus is the second son of a rich family. After being kidnapped when he was little, he was left with a scar across his face and distrust of people. He wants to find a place where he feels truly comfortable and free, like the feeling he gets from skating. Can he find that place with Remus?Virgil is new in town, something he's used to, his family moves a lot. At school he befriends Patton, Logan and Roman and while they're great, he needs another type of friendship, too. So he takes his skateboard and tries to find others who share his passion.Bullet Fic because I can only write so many stories and this one doesn't have a concise plot plus requires more research than I can handle right now. Originally posted on my tumblr.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders
Kudos: 7





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't going to post this here at first but I changed my mind. Since this is a bullet point fanfiction, it's not as concise and includes a bit of commentary. Updates will be whenever and so far it doesn't really have a conclusion. If anyone wants to actually write this, you are free to do so but please notify me if/when you post it. Have fun!

• Remus and Roman are twins in their (second to) last year at school (16-18 years old I guess)  
• Roman is the golden child (of course) and Remus is getting sick of it  
• Remus stopped caring about school years ago, mostly skipping and spends his days skating  
• He build his own little crew over the years where he’s referred to as the Duke and he loves it and all the members (a group of ~10, I guess?)  
• He dreads going home more and more since his parents are on his ass about school  
• Remus doesn’t want to finish and has a fight with his parents about it  
• they tell him that he should move out if he thinks he’s ready for the world (they don’t actually want to throw him out tho)  
• Remus has enough of the fighting and comparisons to his brother that he decides he’s going to do it  
• over the next few days he relocates all his possessions he considers valuable to friends’ houses that don’t mind him storing his stuff there for a while  
• some of them also don’t mind him crashing there every once in a while but not all the time  
• one even lets him use his address if he needs it  
• so Remus leaves clothes at like 3-5 friends’ houses, packs things he’s going to need every day (like his toothbrush) in a bag pack, leaves his family a note that he’s finally out of their hair and leaves the house  
• he gets a shitty paying job at a gas station and pretty much spends all his free time at the hangout where they skate, going home in the evening with one of his friends or he sleeps outside (it’s like end of April/start of May, some nights it’s warm enough)  
• he’s pretty happy with it for the moment, opting to live in the moment and worry about his future in a few months or so  
• Roman is furious and tries to find Remus but his twin never told him where he hung out outside of school and the few friends he has at their school won’t tell him anything  
• he tries to follow them a few times but he isn’t at all subtle and they know the alleys and shortcuts better than him so he always loses them and has to give up  
• the friends tell Remus that but he already figured that Roman would try that, he’s sure he’ll give up soon  
• Roman tries to get their parents to call the police but they are too prideful  
• ‘He made his decision, he’ll come back soon when he notices that he’s in over his head.’  
• All members of their family are just incredibly stubborn  
• Roman doesn’t really stop trying to find Remus but doesn’t go to search as often

• Janus is the second son of one of the richest men in town  
• when he was ~10 he got kidnapped and held for ransom  
• the police got him out but his kidnapper left a scar on his cheek that stretches almost all the way from his mouth to his ear  
• they could keep the injury from the public and since then Janus has stayed out of their eye, even changing his last name to his mother’s maiden name  
• his father was very apologetic and has since supported him as much as he can, even in changing his name  
• in general all his family is super caring towards him, maybe a bit too much sometimes  
• after the incident Janus developed major trust issues  
• he was always relatively good at reading people but he actively worked to improve that after the incident, as well as developing an interest in psychology in general  
• he was home-schooled for a while before he started at a new school (private, of course)  
• thankfully his mother’s maiden name was still prestigious enough that he didn’t get bullied by the elitist assholes at his school and he quickly learned to use make-up to cover his scar (or at least blend it a bit), partly because others stare at it and partly because he can’t stand looking at it himself (it gets better over the years)  
• Janus quickly got annoyed by all the stuffy people he was surrounded by at school and at home when his dad’s friends or business partners were visiting that he looked for an outlet  
• he found it in skating  
• his parents weren’t super enthusiastic about the idea but agreed to let him try as long as he promised to wear the proper protective gear and continue his piano lessons  
• Janus agreed quickly (the gear made him feel better and he loved the piano anyway so it was a win-win for him)  
• his parents organized a teacher for him who taught him the basics  
• it helps Janus relieve stress big time and he loves it


	2. Meet-Cute

• In the present Janus is desperate for some space  
• with the help of his therapist he convinces his parents to let him live in a luxury apartment complex closer to his school if he promises to spend most of his weekends at home  
• so he moves into a four bedroom apartment on his own  
• he uses one as his bedroom, one as a study and the third for his two pet snakes  
• he doesn’t really know what to do with the spare, he doesn’t have a lot of things to store so he begrudgingly agrees to make it a guest room  
• for who he has no idea, he doesn’t have any close friends, he convinced his parents that them coming over was counterproductive, his brother is studying abroad and he refuses to let his little sister stay  
• but he supposes it doesn’t hurt to be prepared  
• his parents make sure he has a cleaning lady over two times under the week and once at the weekend, Janus has known her for most of his life and knows his parents would be stubborn about this so he let it go  
• she refuses to go near his snakes however, even though they are totally harmless and sweet but that gives him a good reason to come back early on weekends  
• after the first few weeks he felt comfortable enough to go out and search for a place to skate  
• it was one of the reasons he wanted to move out, his parents would’ve been suspicious if he left the house to go skating somewhere they didn’t know  
• Janus had researched beforehand where the best spots are and during that also saw some stories about a guy called the Duke and his crew  
• apparently they had chased of bullies and other assholes more than once and are protective of their turf  
• Janus decided to approach the situation cautiously  
• he wears a black beanie and covered half of his face with make-up to make it look like snake scales and hide his scar  
• he also decides to use the name Deceit as cover  
• Janus has befriended the security guards since moving in and uses their side entrance more often than the regular to avoid running into other tenants, especially now with his make-up on and carrying his skateboard  
• he did his best to memorize the city map, at least from the surrounding area, in case he needs to make a quick get-away for whatever reason so he finds the way to the Duke’s territory rather easily  
• when he finds their hang-out spot, he decides to first watch from a distance  
• there are a few people skating, a group watching and cheering if they succeed and another further back just sitting together  
• Janus is fascinated by the ones skating, he hadn’t really had an opportunity to watch someone live before (he had a teacher when he started but that’s different)  
• unconsciously he moved closer and caught the attention of a couple guys that were watching too  
• they come over to him and start a conversation as if they’re already friends  
• “Sick make-up!” “Do you skate?” “Can you do…” and so on and so forth  
• Janus is completely confused but his charmer mode kicks in automatically and he answers the questions smoothly and suddenly he’s having a nice and easy talk with these dudes he doesn’t know and he loves it, it feels so much more natural than any conversation he had with his classmates  
• they just talk for a while (about their favourite skaters, records, competitions etc.) before going over to showing off some jumps  
• others join in and Janus feels more welcomed than ever before  
• then one of them says they should introduce him to the Duke and they drag him to the group he had noticed in the back earlier  
• the Duke stands out with his wild style, wide grin showing off a missing tooth, manic eyes and messy hair – Janus is immediately smitten  
• “Oh, Newbie! I dig your style. Got a name for me hot stuff?” *eyebrow wiggles*  
• Janus almost gives him his real name, he’s so flustered but manages to shrug it off in time  
• “You can call me Deceit for now.”  
• “Wanna do the mysterious stick, huh? Fine by me, you can call me Duke then and we’ll see who’ll last longer!” the guy cackles manically and now somehow Janus had a bet running, the others already placing their bets on how long it’ll take and who’ll last longer  
• And that’s all it really takes for Janus to become part of the group, most of the others introduce themselves, some also give code names for the fun of it and the rest of the afternoon Janus chats and skates with them and he has maybe the most fun he had in his life  
• with school, his parents, pets and other stuff he can’t go as often as he’d like but Janus hangs out with the Duke and his crew as often as he can (mostly that boils down to once a week, two if he’s lucky)  
• he and the Duke get along really well, both still refusing to give their actual names, now because they’re both too prideful (Janus long lost any fear of being judged by them, he even went without make-up a few times)


	3. Realisation

• one Friday evening, maybe two-to-three months later (middle of summer), when Janus stays until really late for the first time, being one of the last ones there, along with the Duke and one other guy  
• “Where you gonna crash tonight?” the guy asks the Duke who shrugs.  
• “Probably just gonna stay here, don’t have a shift tomorrow.”  
• “Alright, stay safe. Bye boss, bye Dee!” the guy says and leaves.  
• Janus is confused.  
• “Don’t you have to go home?”  
• “Nah. Technically don’t even have one.”  
• “What about your parents?”  
• “I moved out. They wanted me to finish school, I didn’t, so I left.”  
• “They didn’t look? Called the police or something?”  
• “Don’t think so. Got my stubbornness and pride from them after all. They probably think I’ll come back when I can’t make it on my own.”  
• “Well, are you?”  
• “Dunno. Don’t think so but I decided not to plan my future, so we’ll see.”  
• “But I still can’t believe they didn’t even try to find you…”  
• “Oh, Ro did. Even tried to follow a few guys from school. He isn’t a good detective though.”  
• “Ro?”  
• “Roman, my twin. He’s the good one, the perfect child.” Janus can hear the bitterness in his voice and decides to change the subject.  
• “So you’ve been sleeping out here since?”  
• “Nah, some of the guys let me crash at their places. Some parents pity me, others are so rarely home they don’t even know I’ve been sleeping there. I decide where to go at the end of the day. Or I sleep out here, under the stars! Ain’t so bad, really. But if I need to go to work it’s better if I can use a bathroom and have breakfast first, y’know?”   
• Janus nods though he doesn’t really understand how Duke can just do that on a whim, anticipating the future as best as one could was part of his upbringing, it’s an essential part of running a business.  
• “It’s supposed to get cold tonight, though. Are you sure you’re alright out here?” Duke shrugs.  
• “I don’t check the weather reports, really, had no idea. Too late now though. Everyone’s already gone and I don’t like showing up at their houses unannounced, at least not for a stupid reason as the night being a bit chilly. I’ve got thick skin, I’ll be fine.”  
• Janus eyes him critically.  
• “You could crash at my place.”  
• Both of them freeze. Janus had not meant to say that. It had slipped out before he could really think about it.  
• Duke stares at him critically. “You sure?”  
• Janus hesitates a second and then decides: ‘Fuck it, I won’t overthink this.’  
• “Yeah, I have a spare bedroom if you want.”  
• “Your parents?”  
• “Don’t live with them, visit them on the weekends. My apartment is closer to my school.”  
• Duke grins, amused. “So you’re gonna invite a guy over to your apartment without even knowing his name. Ballsie, Dee.”  
• Oh, Janus knew how to banter. “You could always just tell me your name and we wouldn’t have this problem.”  
• “Nah, dude. You want me to come over; I don’t mind staying out here. Plus you started this whole thing. If you want a name, you gotta give yours first.”  
• They have a staring match; Janus is the first to look away.  
• “Fine. You win. It’s Janus.”  
• Duke stares at him in honest surprise before he cackles.  
• “Did not think that would work! Ha! Nice to finally know, Janus. Mine’s Remus. You gonna take me home now or what?” he grins.  
• Janus froze when he began to laugh but relaxed when he understood that it wasn’t because of his name itself. As if Duk-Remus would make fun of his name. Ridiculous idea. Still some part of Janus was trying to convince him otherwise. He shoved it down.  
• “Fine. Come on.”  
• They make their way back, Remus talking all the while about this and that, Janus only half listening.  
• He was debating if this was really a good idea but also refused to back down. Remus was the most honest person he’s ever met. He wouldn’t hurt him. It would be fine.  
• When Janus points out the building as they approach, Remus whistles.  
• “Dude! JJ! You’re loaded?!”  
• “My dad is, but yeah. Come on, we’re using the side entrance. I don’t want to run into any of my neighbours.”  
• Remus is giddy that they’re kinda sneaking in  
• Janus says hi to the security guard as they pass, introducing Remus as his guest  
• they take the stairs up, again better chance to avoid the neighbours  
• there is only one other apartment on Janus’ floor and the security guys told him he rarely comes home  
• as soon as Janus opens the door, Remus is exploring his living room and open kitchen  
• Janus chuckles at his enthusiasm and watches him a bit  
• then the thoughts start again: what if he only sees your money now, what if he judges, what if…  
• he decides to distract himself by checking on his pets  
• “Want to meet my snakes?” He half expects Remus to say he wants to explore more first.  
• Instead Remus is by his side in an instant  
• “YES! Show me, show me, show me!”  
• Janus blinks at him in surprise for a second before chuckling and leading him to the snake room  
• Remus immediately dotes on them after Janus tells him how  
• Janus watches fondly before a realisation hits him: ‘Oh shit, I think I have a crush on him.’  
• That’s a problem.  
• not because Remus is a guy, Janus had come to terms with being gay a while ago, but he’s only out to his therapist  
• it’s not that he thinks his family wouldn’t support him, they have shown him that they are very tolerant but his dad does hold a high position and having a gay son could seriously damage his reputation so Janus opted not to tell anyone for now  
• it wasn’t like he had any opportunity to explore his sexuality either, any guy he found attractive was either a stranger, a celebrity or a classmate (and that attraction often disappeared as soon as they opened their mouth to sprout sexist or homophobic bullshit)  
• having one night stands or online dating was out of the question because of his anxiety disorder he developed after the kidnapping  
• so he never saw the need to come out, he didn’t feel a need to pursue a relationship and he was fine with only him and his therapist knowing  
• and now he had a crush on Remus of all people!  
• coming out to his parents would be one thing but even if him being gay wasn’t a problem, dating Remus certainly would be, the guy was technically homeless for crying out loud!  
• well, his parents hadn’t tried to set him up with any girls so far (thankfully!) but his brother had and he has a fiancée now, a proper lady as his mom would say  
• Remus was the opposite of a proper lady! Hell, he was far from being a gentleman!  
• Janus decides to have his existential crises when Remus isn’t doting on his pets anymore and looking positively adorable doing it  
• he’s visiting his parents tomorrow, he could have his crisis there  
• so he and Remus have basically a sleepover and are just enjoying each other’s company for the evening, before going off to bed (in separate rooms, even if Remus tried to convince Janus otherwise (moving way too fast, dude!))  
• the next morning, they have breakfast together and Janus is enjoying himself immensely, he’s never spent that much time alone with Remus and they get along really well  
• soon Janus has to leave to go to his parents’ place  
• Remus is not a morning person and still very groggy but moves to get ready to leave as well  
• Janus says he can stay a bit longer, as long as he’s gone before the cleaning lady comes around 2pm  
• “Aren’t you worried I’m gonna steal stuff? You barely know me.”  
• “You’re more honest with me than any person I’ve ever talked to, Remus. I’m a good judge of character, I trust you.”  
• Remus is floored. Sure, he has his crew but never in his live has he felt so validated.  
• Janus leaves and Remus enjoys the apartment to the fullest in the few hours he has left  
• (he took the best shower of his life)


	4. Summer Vacation Starts Soon

• At his parents’ mansion, Janus allows himself to have his crisis  
• after his parents grilled him as usual about school and living alone etc and if he had plans for the upcoming summer break  
• of course they want him home then but Janus likes the independence (and chance to hang out with Remus & Co. more) so he’s avoiding the topic as best he can  
• thankfully his sister isn’t home or he would not get some quiet until late in the evening  
• he gets time to himself between afternoon tea (he has some British roots) and dinner where he thinks a long time about Remus, his feelings toward him and how to best deal with them  
• he doesn’t really get anywhere though  
• he would love to try and go out with Remus but allowing himself to indulge in his crush could backfire so badly, plus what if Remus doesn’t like him back?  
• but saying nothing suddenly seemed just as hard, like he flipped some switch with his realisation and not being close to Remus was extremely uncomfortable now  
• by the time he’s called to dinner (which seems to him to be way too soon, did he really lose track of time that badly?) he’s incredibly frustrated  
• apparently his parents can tell  
• his mom pulls him aside after dinner and the two sit down in her conservatory  
• she brings some wine and the two drink together (moderately)  
• (Janus has been drunk before and his parents know that, they have also drunk with him before. he doesn’t like being drunk but loves the taste of wine and enjoys a bit of a buzz once in a while)  
• they just chat for a bit, his mom complaining about some of her friends, Janus about his classmates, both starting to relax more  
• his mom asks what’s troubling him directly while she pours him his second (and last) glass  
• he hesitates but decides to tell her that he has a crush and doesn’t know what to do about it  
• she starts teasing him with the typical ‘what she’s like’ etc questions but quickly stops when she notices how uncomfortable Janus looks all of a sudden  
• he takes a few breaths before telling her it’s not about a girl  
• she’s confused for a few seconds before she understands  
• they’re quiet for a bit  
• “So… what does that mean exactly? Is… he?” She waits until he nods in conformation. “Is he an exception or..?”  
• “No, he’s not. Well, he is the first crush I’ve ever considered actually pursuing, but… he’s not the first boy. I… I’m gay, mom.”  
• the silence is quite heavy while his mom is processing his confession, then she nods slowly  
• “I see… I must say I feel like I should have seen that coming, but I did not.” She looks Janus in the eyes and smiles. “I’m very glad you feel comfortable enough to tell me that, honey. I love you, no matter what, you know?”  
• Janus does cry a bit but will blame it entirely on the alcohol if you’d ask him about it later  
• after a good hug, he tells her all about Remus and she listens carefully, not very enthusiastic about her son falling for a high school drop-out that’s been partially living on the streets, but she can see how enamoured Janus is and can’t bring herself to talk him out of it  
• instead she advises him on talking to his therapist about it (she’s worried if Janus is even ready for a relationship with his mental health etc.) and taking it slow, explore the feelings on his own for a bit and see how Remus acts towards him  
• “You’ll have a lot of time during the break to figure everything out. Take it slow, ok?”  
• Janus is very happy he told her and goes to bed a lot calmer  
• both of them have agreed to not tell Janus’ father for now though, it’s an inopportune time and until Janus actually has a boyfriend it can wait  
• (Janus also definitely does not feel ready to come out to his dad (or siblings))  
• when he returns to his apartment the next day, he finds a note from Remus in his snakes’ room  
• Thanks for letting me crash here, Dee. This place is sick, I never knew that rich people’s showers are so big! I made sure to get out on time, don’t worry, but I definitely will annoy you until you let me crash here again :P see you soon, Remus  
• Remus had also doodled a bunch of dicks and butts around the words  
• Janus snorts and quietly curses Remus for infecting him with his terrible humour  
• the next few weeks pass quickly with Janus having to study for finals (Idk how American schools work, we had exams not long before summer break) and not having a lot of time for skating  
• he definitely notices how quickly he misses Remus during that time and he doesn’t really like it  
• his therapist says it’s his fear of commitment, being even a bit dependant on Remus is unsettling him and that’s ok, they’ll work on it  
• it really makes Janus feel better  
• Remus doesn’t know anything about that, of course, but he also definitely notices Janus’ more frequent absences and how stressed he is when he is there  
• he doesn’t ask to crash at Janus’ place during that period  
• once summer vacation starts, everyone is a lot happier  
• Janus has more time to skate but his parents also want him home more  
• plus his father wants him to intern at his work  
• so once a week he’s at his father’s company and he is supposed to go home from Fridays till Sunday afternoons  
• that creates an issue with caring for his snakes; taking them with him all the time would probably just stress them out and also be way inconvenient  
• his parents tell him to hire someone to take care of them during the weekends  
• Janus is not a fan of letting strangers into his apartment (he’s only ok with the cleaning lady since he’s known her for years)  
• he tells Remus as much who responds by saying something along the line of ‘I would love to take care of them, they’re so cute, though if I could choose a pet, I’d definitely get some rats…’  
• he continues talking for a while, but Janus isn’t really listening  
• being bold in regard to Remus has paid off so far, so he just kinda blurts out:  
• “Then, why don’t you?”  
• “Huh?”  
• “Take care of my snakes, I mean. I trust you; you could stay at the apartment over the weekends. Kills two birds with one stone, right?”  
• Remus just stares at him for a bit  
• “You’re kidding, right?”  
• “Yes, totally. It isn’t like your one of my closest friends, you are horrible to my babies and you definitely don’t need a roof over your head.”  
• “You almost sound like you’re inviting me to live with you, you know that, right?” *eyebrow wiggle*  
• *eyeroll* “It’s only on the weekends and I will hardly be there. You get a bed for two or three nights, can use your own bathroom and raid my fridge all you like. And I can relax at my parents’ house knowing my babies are taken care of properly, we both win.”  
• Remus narrows his eyes at him, sceptically.  
• “It sounds like I’m winning a lot more than you, though.”  
• Janus shrugs. “I’ll also know that my good friend is sleeping safely, that’s a huge bonus.”  
• “Aww, you worry about me, snake boy!”  
• “Shut up!”  
• They end up agreeing that Remus will come to Janus’ place Thursday evenings and stay at his apartment till Janus comes back on Sundays  
• Remus insists on doing more housework though, so Janus tells the cleaning lady that she doesn’t need to come on weekends anymore  
• Now Janus basically has a scheduled sleepover with his crush every week, nothing could go wrong there, right?


End file.
